Ambivalence
by Ana of Asgard
Summary: Sequel to the Liesmith, but can stand on its own. When a severely wounded Loki with a strange loss of memory falls to Earth, he turns to the only people who could help him—the Avengers. Post-Age of Ultron, with no slash. Starring our favorite green-eyed god of mischief!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N - Hi guys, this is Ana of Asgard here! Some of you may be here because of my story the Liesmith, some may just be checking it out. Well, if you're going to read it, I strongly advise you to read my other story first, since this is the sequel. There will be many references to the Liesmith in this story, and you may be confused if you don't read it. But if you want to be adventurous and give it a whirl, go ahead! Message me if you want, and I can give you a brief summary of the last story. I just don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet :)**

 **This is Post-Age of Ultron, in case you didn't know. The events of Thor: The Dark World happened, except things are slightly reversed. If you read the Liesmith, then you know that Loki wouldn't be in a jail cell. He didn't "die" either, but he did help Thor.**

 **One more thing..the Avengers are** ** _all_** **in Stark Tower (Or Avengers Tower).** ** _And_** **they all live there. I'm generally more familiar with that building then the other new building they have. Wanda and Vision will be added, of course, and there may be some War Machine and Falcon. You also have your other Avengers: Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, and of course, Thor. Yes, I couldn't bear to get rid of our handsome god of thunder. Please don't get mad. I know Thor left at the end of the Age of Ultron movie, but I'm keeping him on Earth for a while. Just because I can. And** ** _everybody_** **wants to read fluffy Thor and Loki brotherly moments. Just kidding.**

 **This is no-slash at all. There is Pepperony, Brutasha, and Thor/Jane, if I decide to add them on later. I think I got all the pairings down.**

 **Okay, I think I covered everything. Here you go!**

Tony mentally groaned as he heard a knock on the door. Damn the door, who the hell was out there? Couldn't they see that Pepper and Tony were in the _middle_ of something?

Tony tried to ignore it as Pepper kissed him more fervently, tightly fisting his messy dark hair with her hands. Tony's hands roved up and down her back, hoping that the unwelcome visitor would take the hint and leave.

Unfortunately, he/she didn't. Pepper stepped back from Tony, sea-green eyes sparking. Tony tried to pull her back, but Pepper dodged it, smiling.

Tony pulled up an injured look. "I thought we had something going," he said, gesturing vaguely with his hands.

Pepper rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Get your ass over to the door, Anthony Stark," she said playfully. "I'll head over to the bathroom."

Tony winked at her. "I love it when you talk about my ass." He reached out as if to grab hers, but Pepper danced away.

"You idiot," she said, swatting him, before walking over to the bathroom door.

Cursing, Tony walked over to the bedroom door, swinging it open with a ferocious look on his face. If it was Thor again, wanting to know how the microwave worked….

But much to Tony's alarm, it _wasn't_ Thor. It was a certain, green-eyed god of mischief who stared at him, eyes huge in his pale face.

Tony froze. " _Loki_?" he breathed in disbelief. The last time Tony had seen Loki was when they were all battling Thanos. According to Thor's account, Loki had stabbed himself in order to defeat Thanos. Tony didn't really understand what Thor was babbling about, but supposedly Loki _survived_ that.

Tony hadn't expected Loki to be here, though.

It had been over two years since Tony had been face-to-face with Loki, but Tony would never forget that smirking face, those mocking green eyes, or that calm, smooth manner in which he spoke.

Loki's green eyes weren't mocking now, on the contrary, they were wild and turbulent. "I didn't mean to intrude, Stark," he gasped out, long, pale fingers clutching his tunic. "But—"

"Tony?" called out Pepper. "Who is it?"

Tony froze, blinking. He could only imagine Pepper's alarm at finding Loki outside her bedroom door, so he decided to break the news more gently to her. Later.

"Uh, it's just…Thor," Tony called back, feeling guilty. "He wants to know how to use the shower."

"Go show him, Tony," Pepper said, voice muffled by the bathroom door.

"Sure," said Tony, unable to take his eyes off of Loki. Was this a trap? A trick? Tony narrowed his eyes and cocked his head at Loki, frowning.

"Why are you here?" demanded Tony, still unsure of what to do. "I thought you said you wouldn't cause anymore trouble."

Loki forced a sneering, intimidating smile, but the pain in his eyes and the large gulps of air he inhaled sort of took away from the effect. "I think I know what I said, Stark," Loki managed out.

Loki opened his mouth to speak again, but Tony knew what was coming before it happened. Loki's knees were wobbling dangerously, and his hands were shaking.

"Keep your hands _off_ of me," was all Loki could say, before he crumbled gracelessly to the ground, unconscious.

 _Oh, jeez,_ thought Tony wearily. This just gets even _better._ What the hell was he supposed to do _now_?

There was a spare bedroom nearby, and Tony decided he would take Loki _there._ But that was more easily said than done.

Loki was alarmingly tall, but slender of frame. Tony had no wish to carry Loki, and that left only one thing for Tony to do. Drag Loki.

Sighing, Tony grabbed Loki's legs and pulled him across the carpet, cursing again as he ran a mental checklist of where everyone was. Natasha and Bruce were playing checkers—probably staring into each other's eyes more than the checkerboard, Thor, Bruce, Clint, and Steve were in the large sitting room, and Wanda and Vision were somewhere in the kitchen.

Tony was pretty much alone here.

He kicked open the door to the bedroom, not feeling terribly sorry when Loki's head bumped against the doorframe. "Damn all you Norse gods to _hell_ ," muttered Tony viciously.

Getting Loki to the bed was the hard part. Gritting his teeth, Tony managed to yank Loki up the bed, staggering. Loki was still out cold.

Tony had no idea what to do. He didn't want to keep anything from the team—they had been pretty cool to him after the whole Ultron incident.

Plopping down onto a large armchair, Tony sighed again. He recalled a conversation the team had only last night. Thor had been telling them all of what happened to him back on Asgard. It didn't make much sense to Tony—some magical glowing red stuff that somehow got inside Jane. Loki had been there in that story, and according to Thor, he'd helped a lot. Then, Vision and Wanda had asked exactly _what_ happened when Thor brought Loki back to Earth the second time, and Tony had filled them in.

 _"But he can't have Loki back here,"_ Steve had said stoutly. _"The whole planet almost got destroyed. No matter what, we can't have Loki here."_

Funnily enough, Tony had agreed with Steve, quite loudly too. All the Avengers had agreed with Steve, and a flustered Thor had reassured them all that Loki had no intentions of visiting the Avengers for a pleasure visit.

But this _wasn't_ a pleasure visit, Tony knew. That look in Loki's eyes, it was _fear._ It could all be an elaborate trap, but Tony's curiosity got the better of him. Besides, the Avengers could handle Loki well enough. And Tony couldn't turn away someone who needed _help_.

Tony sat up sharply as he was aware of Loki stirring. "Loki?" Tony heard himself ask.

Loki blinked at Tony. "Stark?" Loki asked, equally confused. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I live here," Tony declared, frowning. "You're in Avengers Tower."

Loki froze, eyes widening with the realization. "I can't be," he said dimly, a faraway look on his face. "I—I.." He glared suddenly at Tony. "Why did you bring me here?" he demanded, drifting voice taking on a more furious tone.

Tony threw his hands up. "Don't look at _me_ , Rudolph," he said. " _You're_ the one who showed up at my bedroom door. Then you fainted, and I dragged you here."

Loki scowled. "I do _not_ faint, Stark," he snapped, but there was a hollow look on his face.

"What happened _before_ you intruded on my privacy and fainted outside my bedroom?" prompted Tony, ignoring Loki's earlier comment.

Loki looked bewildered. "I—I don't _remember._ "

Well, shit.

Things just got a lot more complicated.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N - Okay, I'm back! Here's the next chapter…and before you read it, let me tell you a few things.**

 **Firstly, I've never been a huge fan of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch fan fiction, since I'd never found any good ones. If anyone has recommendations, pls don't hesitate to tell me. But as I was saying, I've only read one, and that was a while ago. So I don't have a huge idea of how Wanda is portrayed in fan fiction, so I pretty made up my own version of Wanda, and I think she goes by the movies pretty well.**

 **I've never looked into her telepathic powers that much, so I sort of made up how it works. Just because I can. (I do a lot of things just because I can.) Anyway, so yeah.**

 **Is there going to be a Vision/Wanda pairing? I honestly have no idea, and I don't know how to portray a relationship between them, so I'm probably going to stick with affection between the two, but they never actually 'get together.'**

 **Once more issue I wanted to address. After reading this chapter, my sister wanted to know if I was doing a Loki/Wanda pairing. No, I am not. Just wanted that to be clear. I might in another fic, or if a lot of people want Loki/Wanda (I don't know what people call them together….Landa? Woki?) I may change it to a Loki/Wanda fic. Review and let me know.**

 **That was a LONG Author's Note. Okay, I'm done rambling. Enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

"Hey boys," called out Pepper, heels clicking merrily as she walked over to the sitting room.

Thor and Clint had their eyes glued to the TV screen, and Steve was the only one who turned a head in her direction. "Pepper," Steve greeted warmly. Pepper smiled and nodded at him.

"At least _someone_ has manners," she said pointedly, looking at an oblivious Clint and Thor. They didn't get the hint, however.

On the television, Han and Leia were kissing passionately. Pepper rolled her eyes at the sight of it. _Star Wars._

Steve seemed slightly disappointed, turning back to the TV. "I thought Leia and Luke would be a better couple," he said, while Clint mocked gagging into his sleeve. Steve frowned at him. "What?"

"Luke and Leia are _twins,_ you idiot," said Clint, punching Steve's shoulder. Steve looked annoyed.

"I'd rather have watched it myself," he said. Pepper cleared her throat, bright smile fading slightly.

"Ah! Lady Pepper!" exclaimed Thor, noticing her for the first time. Thor's loud voice aroused Clint, who turned and blinked at Pepper.

"Hey, Pepper," Clint said. "Did you need anything?"

"Did you guys see Tony?" Pepper asked, tapping her foot slightly impatiently. "He disappeared to go help Thor run his shower."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "I did not ask for assistance for my shower," he contradicted, looking offended. "I _know_ how to run a shower." Pepper froze.

"Are you _sure_?" she insisted, biting her lip. She _hated_ it when Tony lied to her.

"I am certain," declared Thor.

Pepper just frowned. There was something funny going on here, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

* * *

"You don't remember _anything,_ Lokster?" Tony asked, eyeing the demigod with a mixture of pity and wariness.

Loki made a disgusted sound. "Don't call me that. What kind of nickname is that, anyway? Are you comparing me to a lobster?"

"It's a cute, mocking, and slightly affectionate nickname," said Tony easily, and Loki snorted.

" _Affectionate_?" he repeated. "Am I to call you Papa now? Oh dear Papa, will you buy me a kitten?"

Tony's lips twitched in amusement. "Sorry, kiddo," he said, grinning. "Pepper won't let animals in the house."

Loki rolled his eyes, leaning back in the pillows. Tony watched him. "So you've really can't remember how you got here?" he asked. When Loki shook his head, Tony shrugged helplessly.

"Your life sucks, you know that, right?" Tony told him bluntly. Loki's lips quirked upwards.

"And yet you still refuse to buy me a kitten."

* * *

Now, where was her room again?

Wanda walked down the hallway, feeling uncomfortable and out of place. The extravagant quarters she'd been given seemed too big, too lavish, and just not _her_. Wanda would have been happy with a small, simple room furnished with just one cot.

Why was she here? Her room…right. Wanda had felt terribly chilly, and had told Vision she was going to go grab a sweater.

Ah, Vision. Wanda had so many mixed feelings about him that it was hard to decipher them at all.

Vision was sweet, Wanda had to admit that. And it was all too obvious how Vision felt about her—even Wanda didn't need her telepathic powers to sense _that._ It was ironic, too, considering that it had been Wanda who tried to stop Tony Stark from completing Vision.

Vision was remarkably powerful. Wanda didn't know herself _how_ powerful, but what frightened her even more was that _she_ could defeat him. Easily, too. It wouldn't cost her much effort—physically, of course.

Wanda wasn't _supposed_ to be this powerful being. She was just an seventeen-year-old girl, and somehow, instead of being in high school, studying for a test…..she was _here._ With Thor—a _god,_ Tony Stark—a billionaire, To be honest, it was terrifying.

Not to mention the Avengers weren't tripping over their shoes to welcome her. They weren't cold towards her, on the contrary, they were friendly. But there was a cold, distant barrier between every single one of them, and Wanda knew it wouldn't be easy for them to forget what she'd done to them.

But there were two Avengers Wanda was feeling a connection with. One was sweet, helpful Vision. The other, surprisingly, was Clint Barton. Ever since Peter had passed, Wanda could only feel a dull sort of ache whenever she was faced with Clint, considering he'd unintentionally been the cause of her brother's death. But somehow that'd blossomed into the odd sort of friendship the two of them had.

Everyone was generally wary of Wanda. With her telekinesis, people naturally assumed she could read their minds. Well, Wanda _could,_ in some sort of way, but not the way people imagined it. They pictured human thoughts as a random strings of words that went on, like _Oh! The sky is so blue today_ or _She looks so ugly in that sweater._

Thoughts were kind of like that, but not really, People thought things in emotions, thoughts, and senses. When walking in a crowd, Wanda found it difficult to figure out who was feeling what. If someone felt mildly annoyed because someone else accidentally bumped them, then Wanda wouldn't sense _that._ On the other hand, if a mob was breaking out, Wanda's head would begin to ache with all the strong feelings of anger.

She could figure out someone's thoughts, but that would take a great deal of concentration. And if the person resists, that makes it even harder. But Wanda tended to avoid that, because she considered it an invasion of someone's privacy.

Wanda shook her head. She was getting terribly distracted. Now, where in his damned, _massive_ building was she?

Wanda couldn't tell, and she reached out with her mind to figure out who else was on this floor. It didn't seem like anyone was here…. _wait._

Wanda froze as her mind brushed against another's lightly. It wasn't the mind of anyone she knew, now, that could mean nothing. But this mind—it was the strangest mind she'd ever felt.

It was like a combination of Tony and Bruce's mind, and Thor's. The mind was terribly clever, Wanda could easily see that. It held the power and sheer strength of Thor's mind, but the mind had a cunning, quick cleverness that Thor did not possess.

The strange individual was deep in thought, and very much alone. He—Wanda could see it was male—was irritated and annoyed at something. Wanda felt herself smile slightly. There were times like these that made her talent seem like a blessing, rather than a curse. After a few minutes with a person, she understood the person better than a friend.

Wanda felt incredibly intrigued by this vivid, bright mind that she leaned against the wall, brown eyes fluttering shut as she concentrated fiercely. This mind was very strong, and the unnamed man could probably shield his thoughts from her if he wanted to.

Unconsciously, Wanda began to walk towards the closed door that contained this fascinating individual, her attention still fully on his mind. What is he thinking about? wondered Wanda, and she began to probe deeper before she hastily withdrew. You're better than this, she scolded herself. You can't intrude like that.

So she didn't. Wanda satisfied her curiosity by grazing gently over his strong emotions. He was having mixed feelings about something, and as a mental image was drawn up, Wanda realized with shock that it was _Thor._ And not only Thor, _Tony_ as well.

His feelings for Tony were something like fondness, irritation, and admiration. Pretty much was _everyone_ feels around Tony, so that wasn't a surprise.

What really surprised Wanda was the strong connection the individual held with Thor. He had mixed feelings about the god of thunder—affection, annoyance, fear, anger, a desperate need to hug him, a desperate need to flee from him, and another desperate need to punch him in the face. Wanda looked faintly amused. It was pretty much the emotions between two fighting brothers.

 _Brothers._

Wanda's heart nearly stopped. Surely it wasn't..it couldn't be….

Wanda immediately turned her attention to the mind. She went below the strong emotions, and underneath, Wanda jolted at the feelings underneath. She knew this person very well by now—he was a strong-willed, stubborn, clever, unreliable person.

That person shouldn't be feeling so much confusion, so much bewilderment. And he most _definitely_ shouldn't have a big, black hole instead of his memories of the previous week.

Wanda couldn't stand it no longer. Preparing herself, Wanda flung open the closed door, and stopping dead at the sight of the individual on the bed.

She couldn't say she recognized him. He was tall, but remarkably slender, with handsome features. His face was pale but striking, black hair was combed back, and clear, unblemished green eyes watched her.

He didn't look at all fearful of her, on the contrary, he looked as though he knew she was outside the whole time. But Wanda knew better. His thoughts and emotions were wild— _Why didn't I sense her there? I need to stop letting my defenses drop._ Ah, so Wanda was dealing with a master liar. She should have expected that from someone with a mind like _that._ And if this man was who she thought he was…well, then Wanda would be dealing with the _god_ of lies. Quite literally.

"So I have a visitor already," commented the man, gaze sliding over her as he sized her up, then darting back to her eyes. Wanda cocked her head at him, an unsettling feeling creeping over her as his burning green eyes seemed to bore holes into her.

It's all a ploy to intimidate you, Wanda told herself. She gathered herself together, and answered stiffly, "I'm not a visitor. Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me?" The man pulled up an injured look. "I know who _you_ are."

That too, was a lie. Even as he spoke, the man was desperately pulling up all known info on her, and it was only a matter of time before he pulled up her name. Wanda Maximoff. Wanda frowned when she felt all the research the man had put into the Avengers.

"Wanda, is it?" the man asked. Wanda felt the panic of his mind when he realized exactly what powers she had, before the man instantly closed his mind off. Now, Wanda could only sense the especially strong emotions.

"Yes," said Wanda warily. "You know my name…allow me the pleasure of knowing yours."

The man narrowed his dark green irises into narrow slits. "I am surprised you do not know me," he said lightly. "I am Loki Odin—" his voice caught in his throat, as a bunch of unidentifiable emotions swirled around his eyes. As quickly as they were there, however, they were gone. "Just Loki," he said, nodding at her.

Her suspicions were confirmed instantly. But Wanda didn't lose her cool, she just nodded at him. "Loki, as the Loki who tried to take over the planet?" she asked politely, surprised she was holding it together as well as she was now.

Loki grinned. "The one and the same."

Wanda should have felt fear or alarm, but honestly she wasn't at all worried. But she had an inkling that a certain billionaire was behind this. "Stark?" she asked wearily.

Loki arched an eyebrow. "He pretty much is behind _all_ the trouble in his Tower, one way or the other, isn't he?" he commented. "But it was my fault too, I'm the one who dropped outside his bedroom door."

"Just when I thought all of this was over," muttered Wanda, but both their heads turned simultaneously as the door barged open. Loki straightened up instantly in bed.

" _Hello,_ Stark," drawled Loki lazily, green eyes flickering. "I was just wondering where my favorite arrogant, annoying Tin Can had gotten to." Wanda almost smiled, before she stopped herself. In another lifetime, she might've actually _liked_ Loki.

Stark stopped dead at the sight of the two of them, head turning comically from one to the other. "Something you forgot to mention?" asked Wanda sarcastically, while Tony swore.

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ," he said, running a hand through his hair. Loki had that innocent, slightly mocking, _I'm confused_ look on his face again.

"I believe that Jesus' middle name _wasn't '_ fucking'," Loki said mildly, not breaking a stride. Wanda had to duck her head to hide a smile, and when she looked back up, Loki was watching her.

His gaze made her feel slightly uncomfortable, so Wanda tapped her foot impatiently on the ground. " _Stark_ ," she said warningly, allowing a trance of her annoyance to show through her voice. "We have to _talk._ "

"Sure," said Stark distractedly. He followed her out of the door, and Wanda slammed the door behind her.

"If there's _one_ thing worse than an evil, genocidal robot trying to take over the world," said Stark, "it's an angry female."

Wanda gritted her teeth—she had no time for Stark's games now. "Did you even _think_ of mentioning that the Norse god of trickery who recently brought an army of aliens out of a giant wormhole in the sky?"

"Who apparently birthed an eight-legged horse," Stark added, face seriously. "Don't forget that."

Wanda blinked. "What the hell?"

"I did _not_ give birth to an eight-legged horse!" hollered an indignant voice from inside the bedroom.

Wanda let out a frustrated sound, then grabbed Stark by the shoulders and dragged him into a separate room, far from Loki's hearing.

Tony exhaled slowly, joking mood vanishing. "Okay, I probably owe you a bunch of explanations," he said. "But there isn't much to tell. I was in my bedroom, and someone was knocking on my door. I answered the door, and there was our favorite demigod." Tony chewed his lip. "He seemed….agitated," frowned Tony. "Then he dropped cold. I had no idea on what to do, so I dragged him here. I left to grab a drink of water, and then _you_ were there."

"Did he seem to, well, _forget_ anything?" asked Wanda, on a sudden impulse. Tony blinked.

"Yeah," he said suspiciously. No doubt he was thinking Wanda had just read his mind, or something foolish like that. "When he woke, he demanded what _I_ was doing there, and seemed confused about why he was there. I sort of thought he was lying, though."

"He's not," Wanda contradicted shortly. "I looked into his head—" Tony cringed, "—and there was a blank hole in the back of his head, a gap that should have been filled with the memories of the past two weeks. But there's nothing there."

"Concussion?" Tony asked hopefully, but Wanda was already shaking her head.

"If he had obtained a head injury," she replied, "the memories still would be there. Decidedly fuzzy, and hard to decipher, but undoubtedly _there._ Here, it's as if nothing even happened. And before you ask…. _no,_ Stark, Loki was not simply in a dark place for the last few weeks. If he was sleeping, there would be a different _feeling._ "

"What are you saying?" Tony asked.

Wanda looked at him seriously. "I'm saying," she said soberly, "that someone _wiped_ those memories from him."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N - Was this update late? I don't know when I last updated, and I'm too lazy to check….but if it's late, I apologize. I stayed home sick today, and I got extra writing time! Sorry for the POV jumps in this chapter, I just wanted to get everything from different point of views.**

 **Has any one else seen the new Infinity War trailer?! Gosh, I'm fangirling so bad over it right now. Natasha's blonde! Cap has a beard! Loki has the Tesseract! Peter has a new suit! The end scene with Thor meeting the GotG had me so excited, too. Ok, done ranting. Btw - did anyone catch Hawkeye in there at all? I couldn't see him, but some of the comments said he was there.**

 **Here's the new chapter! Enjoy, and please review!**

 **PS - I didn't get time to quickly proofread, if anyone catches any grammar/spelling problems, don't hesitate to tell me! I'll be online for a loooong time doing homework, so I'll probably get time to reply.**

* * *

"I have a bargain to offer," said Loki, folding his hands behind his back neatly and pacing back and forth. Tony raised an eyebrow, but after a look from Wanda he resisted the urge to mutter something sarcastic.

He looked _much_ better than he did before. Loki was dressed in his annoyingly familiar oak green outfit, highlighted with black and gold, black hair smoothed back with green eyes glittering.

"You allow me a room to have rest, for at least _three_ days," went on Loki, clearly surprised at Tony's lack of reaction. "You don't even have to feed me. Lock me in for all I care, and forget I even existed. I swear on my honor I will leave without causing _any_ trouble at all."

Well, that was absolutely ridiculous, because of _course_ Tony wasn't going to let Loki starve for three days. Tony had a feeling Loki knew that, too. But Tony needed to act _tough_ here. "What's in it for us?" he asked.

Loki shrugged his narrow shoulders. "You recently had an attack? By Ultron," he added. "I can mend anything you wish with my magic. If you want."

Wanda was still standing so rigidly that Tony wondered if he should poke her, just to make sure she wasn't dead. But he doubted she would appreciate it. But she finally spoke.

"Why do you need rest?" she asked, voice clipped with her accent. _Good question,_ thought Tony, feeling idiotic because he didn't ask it himself.

Loki was chewing his lip. "You probably know I lost my memory of the past few weeks," he said almost reluctantly, locking eyes with Wanda. If it was possible, she stiffened even more.

"Yes," she replied.

"Well, somehow during that time," said Loki, voice light, "I got slightly wounded. Nothing big, but it'll take a few days to recover. I'll be much obliged if you give me a place to—what is it called?—crash in for a while."

Tony didn't accept that, because funnily enough, the voice Loki was using was the _exact_ same tone Tony used with Pepper, trying to pass off injuries as less than they were. "Not working, Lokes," he said, stepping forward. "Tell me what's up. Otherwise we're kicking your ass out the door."

Loki looked at him, mentally debating how much to tell. "Fine," he hissed out through gritted teeth. "Very well, your funeral. I have deadly poisoning in my system because someone dragged out a message on my back with a poisoned knife, and I am slowly being killed from the inside out. My magic is at work overtime, and _unless_ I have a few days to recuperate, the poison will be fatal."

Tony's jaw dropped.

"Hell," he said finally, feeling slightly guilty. He glanced sideways at Wanda, who was still staring at a mocking Loki. "Is what he's saying true?" he asked her.

"Yes," answered Wanda. "Someone _has_ written something in his back. With a poisoned blade. He is in a great deal of pain."

"Ms. Maximoff," Loki ground out, "Stark most certainly _did not_ need to hear that."

Tony had no idea on what to do. He sunk his face in his hands wearily. "Why do I _always_ get into these situations?" he muttered to no one in particular.

"Because you're _Stark,_ " said Loki, never without a ready reply.

Wanda flashed Tony a look that wasn't quite amusement, but close enough. "Don't forget," she said, getting as close to teasing as Wanda ever would with him, "that you dragged _me_ into his mess with you, too."

"Oh my god," mumbled Stark. What were they going to do now? Tell the team?

"Yes?" murmured Loki absent-mindedly, barely flinching as Tony threw an available book at him. It passed through Loki, however, in a flash of emerald light.

"An illusion," said Tony, understanding. The form of Loki standing in front of them disappeared easily, and suddenly there was another Loki, lying wearily on the bed.

"Would the two of you mind _deciding_?" asked Loki suddenly. "My magic is almost depleted, and I need to figure out a good place to teleport to if you're dumping me."

Tony opened his mouth to speak, before a knock banged on the door. "Stark, I _told_ you not to touch my arrows!" hollered an indignant voice. At the sound of that voice, Loki visibly froze.

 _Clint Barton. Hawkeye._

Oh, this was bad. Very bad.

Tony hoped with all his heart that Wanda had locked the door behind her. _Too late._ The knob was turning. Wanda made a slashing motion at her throat to Tony, who blinked at her. _Idiot,_ she mouthed at him, turning to Loki. Clint was still hollering at the door, and Tony mumbled something in reply.

 _Turn invisible,_ Wanda mouthed to Loki, who shook his head. He couldn't. His magic supply was depleted already, due to most of it going to his injury. Wanda cursed, right as Clint Barton stormed into the room, still speaking.

Wanda and Tony instinctively stepped closer to each other, blocking Loki. Clint stared at them, the two people who had been avoiding each other since Sokovia now standing uncomfortably close. Barton gestured vaguely with his hands. "I've missed something, haven't I?"

It may have ended then. Tony and Wanda may have talked out of it, and escorted Clint easily out of the room, if a certain angry redhead hadn't decided to make an entrance.

" _Tony_ , what is the meaning of this?" demanded a fuming Pepper, ignoring Wanda and Clint completely. "You just disappeared! And then you _lied_ to me! Thor didn't need help with his shower! And I find it _entirely_ unacceptable how you…" As Pepper ranted on, Loki sighed. It was only a matter of time before Pepper and Clint noticed him, and then Loki was most likely going to be kicked out.

"Wanda!" another voice ejaculated in delight, while Loki grinned bitterly. "This just gets better and better," Wanda heard Loki mutter.

She closed her eyes weakly as Vision easily melted through the walls. "Wanda, your sweater was on the couch the whole time," said Vision, holding the damned thing out to her. "You—" his voice trailed off, and Wanda knew he'd seen Loki.

Clint and Pepper had seen Loki, too. Clint already had a gun pointed at Loki's forehead, while Pepper screamed and grabbed Tony's shoulders.

Tony was frantically trying to calm a hyperventilating Pepper, who was shrieking. Vision was repeating something over and over again to Wanda, who seemed to have spaced out. Clint was glaring daggers at Loki, spouting some pretty impressive curses at the god of mischief.

And to top it off, somehow _Steve_ had gotten into the goddamned room, too. And was that _Thor_ behind him? Bruce and Natasha were cramming into the tiny room, which was feeling terribly squished by now. Great. Now _all_ the Avengers were here. So much for keeping it discreet.

Everyone was talking on top of the other—Clint was swearing at an amused Loki, Thor and Bruce were trying to figure out what was going on from the back of the room, while Natasha, Steve, and Pepper had all united in a shouting match against Stark.

"Shut up, everyone!" Wanda screamed suddenly, letting ribbons of crimson light escape from her hands. The overly dramatic effect had everyone silenced quickly enough, and all eyes were turned to the Scarlet Witch.

But the silence didn't last long. "I'd like to know exactly _what_ Loki is doing here," bit out Steve.

"Loki?" both Bruce and Thor cried simultaneously.

It seemed like another angry row was about to break out, and Wanda hastily intervened. "Let's all meet," she said. "We have a lot to discuss."

"I'll say we do," scowled Clint, as Natasha laid a warning but gentle hand on his shoulder.

* * *

"Tony," said Steve, tapping impatiently on the table. "Tell us from the beginning about happened."

Natasha turned her steely gray-green eyes to Tony, who tried to look nonchalant but was failing miserably. This whole thing was getting confusing, in her opinion. She'd come to the room with Bruce because she had known for a _fact_ that it was empty. They'd wanted to play chess in a more private setting, and the two of them had walked in on the chaotic scene. Natasha wasn't exactly sure _what_ was going on, but all she knew was that a certain _someone_ , who should've disappeared from Earth a long time ago, was lying on the bed.

"I was in my bedroom," said Tony, surprisingly not making a sarcastic remark. "Minding my own business…when a knock came on my door. Being the amazingly hospitable person I am, I opened it. And you can all guess who it was."

Thor had a confused look on his face. "Who?" he asked, and Natasha realized Thor _didn't_ know that it was Loki in there. Well, that complicated things.

"Nose goes!" said Natasha suddenly, a finger reaching up and lightly tapping her nose. The reaction was simultaneous. Almost every hand darted up and touched their own nose…leaving a bewildered Steve, blinking around at everyone.

"You gotta tell Thor," grinned Tony unabashedly. "Come on, Capsicle!"

Steve looked indubitably displeased, but nodded curtly, not bothering to demand a rematch.

"What is this 'nose goes'?" demanded Thor, but Steve brushed him aside.

"Thor," said Steve, wanting to get it over with, "the guy in the bed, and the guy outside Tony's bedroom….it's Loki."

Thor stared at him, alarmingly blue eyes fixed on Steve. "Are you sure?" Thor asked finally. Steve nodded, and before Thor could say something more, Tony quickly took the stage.

"Back to my story!" exclaimed Tony, voice too cheery to be real. "Anyways, guys. Loki was outside my room, and I asked him what the hell he was doing there, and then Loki fainted. So I did the only sensible thing to do, I dragged him to the spare room near mine."

"You should have told us," said Steve disapprovingly. "Didn't we already have this discussion about make important decisions like _that_ without telling us?"

"I'll be sure to call a meeting before I redecorate my room," answered Tony seriously. "Anyway, I was going to tell you afterwards."

Natasha instantly knew that was a lie. The slight twitching in his hand, the way Tony forced himself to meet Steve's eye. It was obvious that Tony was no Loki, but his act seemed to fool everyone else well enough.

"What next?" Steve began, but Tony hastily began speaking.

"Wanda will tell," he said quickly, stumbling over his words. "Wanda would, won't you?"

Natasha sighed, and settled back for Part Two of Stark and his Crazy Antics.

* * *

Wanda knew exactly why Tony was so willing to hand the reins over to _her._ Usually the billionaire loved hearing the sound of his own voice, but in this case, apparently Tony wasn't eager to announce to Thor that his little brother had probably just been tortured, and can't remember anything from the past few weeks.

"I went to get a sweater from my room," said Wanda, shooting Vision a glance. "I got lost…" she hesitated. The Avengers mightn't be very pleased to hear what she was doing, but then, that was who Wanda _was._ It wasn't her fault.

"…and I felt around for another mind," said Wanda, forcing herself to ignore the looks that flashed across the Avengers' faces. "And when I felt Loki's—I didn't know it was his at the time, of course—I was, well, _curious._ It was probably the strangest mind I'd ever felt, sort of like Thor's. Strong-willed with the same power radiating from it that Thor has, but more…" her voice trailed off, looking slight embarrassed. But Thor caught on quickly.

"Cleverer?" Thor asked. "Yes, Loki was always far more cleverer than me in everything. I'm not surprised to hear that."

"I was curious," Wanda repeated. "So I went into the room, and I saw him on the bed. He said he knew _my_ name, so I asked him his. He told me it was Loki." Wanda frowned, recollecting her thoughts. "Loki had a giant memory gap in the place of his memories of the past few weeks," she added. "So he had a light memory loss. Well, I didn't know what to do at that point, because Loki wasn't exactly _attacking,_ and that's when Stark came in."

"I wanted to know what was going on," Wanda went on, "so I dragged Stark out of the room. He explained what happened, and then _Loki_ called us back in. Loki said he had a proposal."

Before anyone could ask the obvious question hanging in the air, _What sort of proposal?_ Wanda answered it herself. "He wanted a few days of rest, from an injury," she said. "He said he didn't even want food. And Loki promised repairs of any damage created by Ultron."

Wanda glanced at Clint with sympathy, careful not to show any in her gaze, because the assassin didn't appreciate sympathy well. Clint looked furious but soothed down, still in shock about seeing his enemy after two years. Wanda had heard about what Loki had done to Clint—With Coulson and the mind-control—and Wanda felt pity for him.

"It could be a trap," said Vision, but Wanda had her answer prepared.

"No," she said. "Loki was in a considerable amount of pain."

Other than Wanda, the only other female Avenger—Black Widow—was leaning forward to speak. Everyone fell silent, heads turning in her direction. Natasha rarely spoke in group discussions, only when necessary, but when she _did_ speak, her words were sensible, practical, and caused everyone to look at the problem from a new angle.

There wasn't much Wanda knew about Natasha. There was no chance of girl-to-girl talks there, because the silent assassin never spoke much to Wanda. She was polite enough, but Wanda supposed that Natasha still hadn't forgiven the mind-issue.

Wanda tore herself away from her thoughts, and focused her attention on Natasha. "It seems to me," said Natasha, "that if Loki _isn't_ lying, then his injury must be pretty serious. Loki has an ego to rival Stark's…"

"Hey!" Tony protested.

"…and would only ask for a night's rest even if he had a broken wrist," Natasha continued. "I wouldn't be surprised if his injury was fatal."

Wanda was already nodding. "Yes," she said, glancing quickly at Thor with pity before looking away. "Loki says he was, er, _tortured._ And apparently he's dying."

Wanda braced herself for the outbreaking of clashing voices, but it never came. Everyone was just staring at her, jaws dropped, with mixed expressions on their faces. The Scarlet Witch ducked her head, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Do you know the details?" spoke Bruce for the first time, ever the doctor. "Maybe we could do something for it."

Wanda shook her head. "No," she said, forcing her voice to stay level. "Loki says that—that apparently someone wrote a message on his back. With a deadly, poisoned knife."

The silence was loud enough to hear a pin drop. Wanda stared at an invisible spot on the table, avoiding Thor's gaze. The emotions radiating from him were heart-wrenching, and Wanda cut herself off from his emotion flow, feeling sure that she would burst into tears if she felt Thor's feelings any longer.

"Who do you think did this, Thor?" asked Steve.

Thor was shaking his head over and over again. "It was most likely one of the many sorcerers in the Nine," he said bitterly. "Loki has a nasty habit of offering to work for someone, then double-crossing them for the person who has more money. Fifty percent of the time, that is his ploy. Yet Loki keeps being hired, because he is an adept sorcerer with a quick, intelligent mind. No one can get the better of _him._ As you can imagine, he has many enemies. I believe one of them did…. _that_ to him, then wiped his memories in cast anyone wanted to figure out who it was."

Outside, the rain began to pour.

* * *

Clint listened with mixed feelings as he found out that Loki, his enemy, was about to die. The only other time he felt these odd feelings were when he accidentally shot an arrow at Pepper, and Loki danced in the way and took the arrow for her.

This was sort of like that.

Clint decided to voice his thoughts when no one else said anything. "Guys," began Clint, "in _my_ opinion, we should…"

"Clint," interrupted Steve warningly, sending him a quick glance. At the same time, Natasha squeezed his shoulder.

Clint felt angry as he brushed off Natasha and glared around at the rest of the Avengers. "Do you guys think so _low_ of me?" he demanded. "This was two years ago, Jesus _Christ_! There was once a time I would secretly be happy, thinking Loki deserves everything that is coming to him. But I've changed. I let go of my grudges."

Clint sighed. "I was just going to say that we _should_ offer his shelter, for as long as he likes," he said, all the fight draining out of his voice. "We provide him with whatever food or things he needs, and let him have a room, under controlled conditions, of course."

" _But,_ " Clint went on to say, "We _can't_ go off gallivanting after the sorcerer who killed Loki to avenge him or whatever the crap we're going to say. It's not our fight, and if this guy is powerful enough to bring down Loki, we don't want to have him wage war on Earth."

"What _was_ er, on his back?" asked Steve. Wanda opened her mouth to reply, but Thor cut her off.

"Probably ancient runes or some dark spell," dismissed Thor. "Nothing of importance."

Before someone else could speak, Wanda took the floor. "I _finally_ got a word in," she said, ruffled. "Listen, _all_ of you got it all wrong. This _is_ our fight, and no, Thor, those weren't runes on Loki's back." When she paused for breath, Clint felt a spark of annoyance and interrupted, much to Wanda's displeasure.

"Since when did _you_ grow so fond of that trickster?" he said, voice coming out harsher than he intended. Wanda turned dark eyes to him.

"This is nothing to do with Loki," she said, voice frosty. "It has to do with something else entirely."

Wanda's gaze flittered around the room, drawing in breath for her final statement. "The letters on Loki's back?" she said. "I saw them in Loki's mind. They were a message. A message for us."

"What was it?" asked Tony impatiently. Wanda bit her lip.

" _Beware, Avengers_ ," she quoted, voice dull and devoid of emotion.

" _I am coming_."

* * *

 **A/N - I know what you're thinking…..(how did this happen? jk - Ragnarok ref) what's up with Wanda always saying the dramatic words that end the chapter? I'm sorry, I honestly couldn't think of a better way to finish up. Anyway. There's that. Please review, I absolutely LOVE them!**


	4. Author's Note

**A/N - *sigh* I'm doing it again. I'm using a chapter as an Author's Note, and not only that, I'm doing something I promised myself I would never do. Putting my story on hiatus.**

 **Okay, please don't kill me! Life's just getting too stressful for me, I have homework on top of homework piled up in stacks.** ** _And_** **my plot is going absolutely nowhere right now. If anyone has any ideas, message me and maybe we could co-author? I don't know.**

 **Will I abandon it? I honestly don't think so. You can expect an update in a month at the** ** _very_** **latest. If life really sucks, then the update will be in two months.**

 **I'm just not in the mood to world on such a plot-filled story. Sometimes I'm in a humorous mood, sometimes I'm in a depressed mood, and I'm pretty sure my story will be all over the place if I write the next chapter with such interchanging moods.**

 **I'm not going to abandon writing fan fiction altogether—I don't think I could live with that. I** ** _love_** **writing fan fiction, and Thor and Loki stories are so much fun to write. So I got a solution.**

 **I've started a new story—It's called** ** _Of Thunder and Mischief—_** **and if I'm depressed, I'll beat the crap out of poor Loki and Thor. If I'm in a good mood, I'll write a bit of humor. My series of one shots will have everything from Angst to Adventure to Hurt/Comfort. It'll follow Thor and Loki from childhood up to Thor 1, unless I decide to change it up. Check it out if you want!**

 **Goodbye for now!**


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